


The Day Death Came to Hogwarts

by Isadorabelle



Series: Death Became Him [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 23:13:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4281657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isadorabelle/pseuds/Isadorabelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the final battle for the wizarding world. Voldemort is sure he's won, but Death has other ideas. (Will be part of a series.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Death Came and Took a Tasty Soul.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The first part of this is taken from the book. I’ve marked it in italics to be sure that there isn’t an issue with it. It’s also been a while since I’ve read the books or seen the last movie. I likely will soon and will rewrite if I feel it necessary, but if there are minor inconsistencies, please excuse. Also, this and the stories that follow are AU! If you don’t care for the books being rewritten, this isn’t for you. 
> 
> Another thing: this isn’t beta read. I posted it at 3.30am after writing it. I’ll have it beta read and update it, but if you notice any glaring mistakes, just let me know and I’ll try to correct them immediately. If you’d like to beta, inbox me!

_"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."_  
  
Even nature didn’t dare utter a sound as the Dark Lord offered life to his enemies—a choice that every living soul there knew wouldn’t be heeded by those loyal to who that had already fallen. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and even Slytherin stood united against a common enemy as Hagrid’s form shook behind the Dark Lord, Harry Potter draped across his arms. As Hagrid moved forward, a chorus of agonized cries rang out until Lord Voldemort’s roar and a wordless spell silenced them. He demanded that Hagrid put him down and the Dark Lord, reveling in his victory, stood over the fallen Boy-Who-Lived.  
  
_"You see?" said Voldemort, and Harry felt him striding backward and forward right beside the place where he lay. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"_  
  
“Sorry, didn’t catch that.” A raspy, dark, drawling voice interrupted him. Despite the whispered tone, it rang out clearly from the side of the courtyard, reaching the ears of the Death Eaters and Order members alike. The figure was cloaked in darkness and with a complexion too pale to be alive. Dark hair framed a long face and a fabulously, fantastically hooked nose.

“I thought, you said, that he was nothing but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves. Isn’t that the cauldron calling the kettle black, then?” The not-quite-dead figure of Severus Snape took uncertain steps, as if his body wasn’t quite his own but instead a clever marionette being controlled by something massive. Blood had begun to dry on his robes, his collar, neck and part of his face stained with it and sticky. 

He approached to stand between the Dark Lord and his stunned colleagues and students and while his movements were jerky, his eyes remained intense and focused on his living master. “Did you know…I was never yours? I fed the Order information, told them where your loyal followers would be. And, every time one died because of me, every time you would praise their loyalty and sacrifice, I did too. It was one less….one less of you.” He listed to one side slightly and lifted one hand, gingerly touching his neck.  
“If I belonged to anyone, it was Dumbledore. Another mad man. I thought I’d be free now, that I’d made penance. Even dead…even dead I serve someone. No peace for the unloved and the wicked.” The figure muttered and eyed the Dark Lord as he stepped over Harry Potter and approached him. “You’re out of time, Tom Riddle. No more chances for you; no more penance. Death is here, and he’s come to eat your soul.”

The Dark Lord sneered and lifted his wand.

“Avada Kedavra!” 

The clouds had gathered, an unnatural swirling mass over the witches and wizards below and as the killing curse struck the already dead wizard, so did lightening. Rather than falling back or stumbling as some last bit of life left him, a darkness exploded in that space. A cloud unmoved by time or wind consumed the area and beyond where Severus Snape had stood. Shock didn’t allow the spectators to move and the Dark Lord took slow, uncertain steps back as the cloud began to swirl.  
After several seconds, something new began to form. A mop of unruly, longish curly black hair became visible first and as the smoke cleared, only peeks of too pale skin was visible just before the cloud covered it with loose black cloth. Within moments the last wisp of smoke disappeared into the air and barefoot, a new man of sorts had taken the place of Hogwarts’ Headmaster. Pale calves gave way to dark, tattered robes and blackened fingers twitched at the slim figure’s side. He turned his head and lifted one arm, looking for a Dark Mark that he no longer bore.

Death looked to Voldemort and wore the face of a younger Severus Snape.  
  


He took a step forward—Voldemort took another step back—and he stretched his toes over sharp, broken stone. Not noticing, nor caring, about the cuts inflicted on the virgin feet, he took another step and lifted his palms. A few more steps, each growing more certain, and Severus Snape approached the Dark Lord. His hands hovered in the air as if gliding his palms over soft grass. Instead he took the life that remained, the fallen dead yielded decaying rapidly until only bones remained. He stopped, finally, and turned completely blackened eyes on Lord Voldemort. While the face he wore was familiar, the eyes, the lips, the tone of the skin wasn’t that of a normal man. And the smile that then lit up a very angular face was most certainly not one to have ever graced that face. 

“I have been waiting for you for a very long time, Tom Marvolo Riddle.” The voice was high and many, yet only one. “I have been there, waiting for you at every crossroad. Yet, you avoid me. It must be exhausting.”

He tilted his head, exposing the darkened veins in his neck. It was a sharp contrast. “They’ve killed almost every piece of your soul. It was rather like a fine dessert, the sort that only comes around once a millennia. I rather think Severus would enjoy the flavor, even with such fervent denial.” The smile didn’t leave his face as he looked to Nagini.

“Let’s find out.” He extended one hand—his nails that of blackened claws—and watched as the snake twisted and withered on herself. The Dark Lord tried to lunge, but was stopped midway, his wand pointed harmlessly at the ground as the snake expired into nothing but a twisted mass of vertebrae.

Death tilted his head back, eyes closed in an expression of slight pleasure. “Ah…I was right.” A satisfied smile remained on his face as he looked to the Dark Lord again. “I’m going to eat you up now, Tom Riddle. I would ask for any last words, but I’d hate to spoil the taste with regret.”

There was no hesitation or debate, no chance for redemption or the opportunity to flee. The Dark Lord was free of his awkward position, only to slowly stoop to the ground as his screams and cries for help from his followers echoed off every surface. His limbs collapsed, no longer able to hold him up, and his skin began to split. He cried—pleaded with the creature in front of him, offered him wealth, power, Lily Evans, anything to make it stop. Dispassionate darkness watched from pale eye sockets until finally nothing but bone and scraps of dark cloak remained of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The figure closed his eyes and smiled before deliberately licking his lips. 

“You know, sometimes you anticipate something for so long and your expectations get so high…then you get it and it isn’t what you imagined.” He shook his head and gave the Death Eaters a little grin. “That isn’t what happened here.”


	2. Death Told a Story, and Said He Wouldn’t Go.

“Now!” His back straightened and he clapped his hands once then surveyed the late Dark Lord’s followers. “Severus Snape wishes for you all to die. He wishes for a cleansing—for the wizarding world to have a fresh start without you lot to muck it up.” The high voice stated and casually walked forward to kick Nagini’s skull. “Then, he wishes for me to release him and let him die.” He turned around, looking at those that guarded Hogwarts once before looking back at the Death Eaters.

“But I’m old and understand moderation. I could engorge myself yes, or I could let you go, run. Let you…marinate in your fear, so that you taste just a bit better. And, frightened you should be—nothing good is waiting for you.” He turned a sinister smile on them and released the hold that had kept them in place. “So run, because I’m coming for each and every one of you. I’m coming and I’m going to eat your soul and there’s no place you can hide.”

The pop and crack of many apparations sounded at once as Death Eaters did exactly what their former comrade told them to. They fled, searching out safe corners from the darkness that had taken their lord and master. When it cleared, when the smoke and the popping and the shouting settled, a very emotional Hagrid stood hugging a very alive Harry Potter. 

Harry, with Hagrid, cautiously began across the courtyard, giving the immobile figure a wide berth. As they walked, Death turned slowly, watching them until he was facing the stunned Order members and the students. While it was merely seconds, hours seemed to span as they all stared at one another.

“The story of the Deathly Hallows is true,” he finally spoke. Deliberately he twisted his head, as if breaking in a new suit. “Three brothers, two foolish and one wise—your ancestor, Harold James Potter. Severus Snape’s too. Prince, such an old family. Their blood is in so many of you. I can smell it.” He took a few steps towards them but paused and smiled just slightly when those closest took a step back.

“Once and a while, someone dies who never should have lived. They were made, they were born, and they were cursed and despite all of the suffering in their life and their many mistakes, they remain good. Most go bad, most who have the odds against them are beyond the point where they deserve a second chance. Those that are though, those that are just right” he lifted a hand, his fingers pinching the air. “They give me the chance to come back. Sometimes they are in the right place, at the right time, and I just can’t resist.”  
He turned another one of those strange smiles on them. “So I think I’ll stay for a while, observe, taste all the things I haven’t been able to in 1,200 years. Just a suggestion, before I go,” he tilted his head up and worked his jaw a little. “We are more now, we will be more until I decide I’ve had enough of you. Be mindful of that, and stay on our good side.”  
Pain seemed to sear across his face. Severus Snape doubled over and slumped against a fallen part of the castle. Healthy color returned to his skin, his fingers long, tapered, elegant and perfectly ordinary as his chest rose and fell softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I promise, it gets better. Beginnings have never been my strong suit as I often see the story in the middle rather than from the beginning. I always felt like Severus got a raw deal. It was more merciful for him to die then, yes, but he deserved happiness in his life and I firmly believe that he never would’ve gotten it under either of his masters. So, I figured that I’d do something about it. Now he’s sharing his existence with this darkness that’s always there inside him, but nature balances it by giving Death a door in, but a good man to keep it in check. I hope you decide to keep reading and see how things turn out for Severus!


End file.
